The Alberta Teachers’ Association

1. Develop knowledge and awareness.

• Examine your own attitudes and beliefs about sexuality and consider your own biases (low risk).
• Learn about LGBT issues, culture and current issues by reading books, journals and periodicals (low risk).

• Assume there are LGBT youth in all of your classes and consider whether the language you use on a daily basis reflects that reality (low risk).
• Remember that one out of 10 students is non-heterosexual (low-risk).
• Use the words lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered as part of your regular classroom vocabulary (low risk).
• Use inclusive language that allows for LGBT possibilities, ie, partner instead of girlfriend or boyfriend (low risk).

• Consider the posters or images on your walls or the materials on your bookshelves. Are there opportunities for you to display to students that you value diversity, including diversity concerning sexual orientation and gender identity? If posters become defaced or removed, put new ones up and consider this an opportunity to engage students in a discussion about intolerance and discrimination (some risk).

• Make an effort to create an atmosphere in your classroom in which students can talk about the impact of discrimination they have faced. Draw parallels among sexism, racism and heterosexism and talk about oppression in all its forms. Take the opportunity to challenge stereotypes and binary thinking. Try to correct false assumptions or misinformation about LGBT persons (some risk).

• Consider whether you are able to include a unit related to sexual orientation in a course you teach. Identify knowledge, skill and attitude outcomes in your subject area that address LGBT issues. Provide for inclusive education in everyday lessons that honors and respects diversity and difference (greater risk).
• Invite LGBT speakers into your classroom (greater risk).
• Provide resources in your school library and on bulletin boards (some risk)
• Sponsor a "diversity day" in our school to discuss gender, race, ethnicity, ability, class and sexual orientation issues (some risk).

• Speak up for LGBT youth and for straight youth who are targeted or harassed (greater risk).
• Volunteer to provide staff facilitation to form a gay/straight alliance and/or support group for LGBT and questioning youth (greater risk).
• Educate other staff members about the needs of LGBT youth (greater risk).
• Encourage your school to provide professional development workshops for teachers and parents on LGBT health, safety and educational issues (greater risk).

• Develop a broad base of support among students, teachers, administrators and parents. Find people who can help you locate and access school- and community-based LGBT information and resources (greater risk).
• Find people to whom you can turn for emotional support (greater risk).

• If you are heterosexual, come out in support of LGBT persons (some risk).
• If you are a LGBT teacher, consider the risks and realities of coming out to your staff and/or students. Coming out can have a positive impact on student and teacher attitudes towards homosexuality and homophobia (greater risk).
• LGBT teachers should not be required to "stand on their own." With the support of administrators and colleagues, a teacher's decision to be open about his or her sexual orientation can be an extremely powerful message as students of all sexual orientations can learn that their sexuality is not something to hide in shame.

Adapted from M. Schneider, ed., Pride and Prejudice: Working with Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Youth (Toronto, ON: Central Toronto Youth Services, 1997) and A. Lipkin, Understanding Homosexuality, Changing Schools: A Text for Teachers, Counselors and Administrators (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999).